Dark Horse
04-16-2012, 19:44
Submit a Book ReviewBook Title:
The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II Author:
David Mondey ISBN:
1 85152 668 4 Category:
Reference Format:
Hardback Summary:
This 239 page book contains lots of useful information about many British built aircraft from “Airspeed AS.5 Courier” to “Westland Welkin”. All the major types you would expect to see included are here: Avro, Bristol, de Havilland, Fairey, Gloster, Handley Page, Hawker, Miles, Short, Supermarine, and Vickers amongst others. In total about 100 aircraft are described and discussed, along with a total of about 400 illustrations - at least one illustration of each type, whether a profile colour illustration, B&W or colour illustration plus also a number of top/side/front drawings of aircraft. There is also a thorough index.
Some of the aircraft merit quite a lot of pages, so for example the Hawker Typhoon gets 6 pages including text, 8 colour profiles, 2 B&W photos, 2 colour photos and 1 top/front/side sketch. One of my favourite stupid planes, the Fairey Battle, scores 4 pages including text, 8 colour profiles, 2 B&W photos and 1 top/front/side sketch.
Each section begins with a “History and Notes”, where the service record is discussed as well as the various Marks and modifications. This is followed by a section called “Specification” which tells you power plant, performance details, armaments etc and a list of countries which used the type. The strength of this book is that it is a primer of concise information on types, performance and armament data. It is not the final word on planes, but I find myself returning to this book regularly, especially when I start to think “I wonder if…”
Other books in this series are "The Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II" and "The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II", both also by David Mondey.
The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II Author:
David Mondey ISBN:
1 85152 668 4 Category:
Reference Format:
Hardback Summary:
This 239 page book contains lots of useful information about many British built aircraft from “Airspeed AS.5 Courier” to “Westland Welkin”. All the major types you would expect to see included are here: Avro, Bristol, de Havilland, Fairey, Gloster, Handley Page, Hawker, Miles, Short, Supermarine, and Vickers amongst others. In total about 100 aircraft are described and discussed, along with a total of about 400 illustrations - at least one illustration of each type, whether a profile colour illustration, B&W or colour illustration plus also a number of top/side/front drawings of aircraft. There is also a thorough index.
Some of the aircraft merit quite a lot of pages, so for example the Hawker Typhoon gets 6 pages including text, 8 colour profiles, 2 B&W photos, 2 colour photos and 1 top/front/side sketch. One of my favourite stupid planes, the Fairey Battle, scores 4 pages including text, 8 colour profiles, 2 B&W photos and 1 top/front/side sketch.
Each section begins with a “History and Notes”, where the service record is discussed as well as the various Marks and modifications. This is followed by a section called “Specification” which tells you power plant, performance details, armaments etc and a list of countries which used the type. The strength of this book is that it is a primer of concise information on types, performance and armament data. It is not the final word on planes, but I find myself returning to this book regularly, especially when I start to think “I wonder if…”
Other books in this series are "The Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II" and "The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II", both also by David Mondey.